I decided to give the Swiss bar a try, as I've heard it's good for people with shoulder pain, and I know doing dumbbell presses with a neutral grip is less painful. I didn't really notice a difference. In fact, if anything, I'd say it was more painful than a regular grip, so I'll switch back next week and see how it goes. Everything else felt good.

Everything felt pretty good today. My right hamstring is always tighter than my left, and I think today I figured out that I tend to bend my left leg slightly more when doing good mornings, not putting as much tension on that hamstring. My lower back was a little tight, so I'm just going to make sure to stretch it well tonight. My new gym has 24 hour key card access, and I never thought that would matter, until today when we got a bunch of snow, and nobody was in the gym. Very thankful now for the key card.

Today was supposed to be a rest day for me, but now that I'm back in the groove at the gym, and I'm still going light on everything, I felt like I needed a little more volume, and I wanted to hit some muscles which weren't getting any direct work. Also, I had a really stressful day at work today, and needed to blow off some steam. This was my first time using a prowler sled, as I never had access to one until I joined this gym. Both sets were done pushing the sled the length of the gym (which I estimated at about 50 feet) and back two times. I haven't felt that close to puking from working out in a long time, so naturally I'm hooked. My nervous system is definitely shaken up, and I will be taking an epsom salt bath right after I finish typing this up.

So as of 2.10.2014 I switched to Westside. I love Westside, but felt it was unnecessary when I first went back to the gym. My shoulder has been feeling progressively better since being back, so I decided it was time to make the transition. I'm still not pushing things to absolute failure, but definitely starting to go heavier. All my reps on presses and squats have been done with a full pause since being back on Westside.

Great log. Keep it up. Alot of people talk trash about doing the Westside system but I've found that its the best way for me to get stronger without injuring myself. That's a solid deadlift from a deficit. My back hurts just thinking about it haha.

DougTice wrote:Great log. Keep it up. Alot of people talk trash about doing the Westside system but I've found that its the best way for me to get stronger without injuring myself. That's a solid deadlift from a deficit. My back hurts just thinking about it haha.

Ha thanks man. I hit 550 from a deficit before I tore my rotator cuff. Hoping to get back to that as quickly as possible. You're hitting some solid ass numbers. And I agree, Westside is great. Just look at their lifters. The results are undeniable.

I stopped the cable pushdowns after my first work set because they were giving me elbow pain. The skull crushers with the swiss bar were way better. Shoulder feels a little sore. I need to get an ice pack. 225 bench was touch and go, but it flew up.